Soccer Diplomacy: Iran, US Agree on Friendly Soccer Match

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran's Football Federation and the US Soccer Federation have reached an agreement on the two national teams' playing a friendly game in the United States next spring before the 2014 Brazil World Cup, said head of Iran's football federation.

“We have talked with the US Soccer Federation officials and they, too, are interested in hosting this match. The only remaining issue is deciding the time and the venue for it, and whether it would be a game between the two teams or in the framework of a multilateral competition,” Head of the Iranian Football Federation Ali Kaffashian told Tasnim News Agency on Wednesday.

He said that the Iranian side’s proposal for the time of the game is April or May of 2014, when the Iranian team’s preparation camp for the Brazil World Cup would be set us up.

The President of the US soccer federation had on October 5 called Iran's head coach to inform him that he was interested in having a preparatory match between his team and the Iranian side.

Portuguese Head Coach of the Iranian national football team Carlos Quiroz contacted the Iranian football federation following the phone call and told them that he welcomed the idea and also suggested that the Iranian team would have a preparation camp in America before the beginning of the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

The Iranian and the American soccer teams have played twice before. Iran defeated the US 2-1 in a game at the 1998 World Cup in France. The two teams also played to a 1-1 draw in a match in Pasadena, California two years later.

Iran and the United States have both already qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.